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1 Jun 2009 : Column 200W—continued
Not all affordable housing is provided by new build completions, as some supply can come from acquisitions. For example, an additional 10,170 affordable homes were acquired in England in 2007-08; these are not included in the tables above.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many financial assessments have been carried out as part of a household's application under a Homebuy scheme in each of the last three years. [277386]
Margaret Beckett: Each applicant for a HomeBuy scheme has a financial assessment carried out as part of the process to establish their eligibility and ability to afford the costs of the scheme. The Homes and Communities Agency does not collect information on the number of financial assessments that are carried out.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of each contract between her Department and Homebuy agents; and if she will make a statement. [277387]
Margaret Beckett: A copy of the standard contract between the Homes and Communities Agency and HomeBuy agents has been placed in the Library of the House. Individual contracts are commercially confidential.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how the receipts from the Social Homebuy scheme were distributed in each of the last three years. [277388]
Margaret Beckett: Receipts from Social HomeBuy sales by housing associations are retained by the vendors and are used to provide further social rented homes.
Local authorities may retain all Social HomeBuy sales receipts provided that these are used for the purposes set out in The Local Authorities (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006—Statutory Instrument 2006 No. 521—ie, for the purpose of providing affordable housing or of meeting the costs of the Social HomeBuy scheme.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes purchased for social rent were bought from (a) developers, (b) private owners and (c) other organisations in the social sector in each of the last five years. [277450]
Mr. Iain Wright: For the number of homes purchased for social rent, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 8 May 2009, Official Report, columns 450-51W.
CLG do not have figures on who homes purchased for social rent were bought from.
Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average right-to-buy discount was as a percentage of average (a) house prices and (b) right-to-buy sales prices in each region in each year since 1997. [277667]
Mr. Iain Wright: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today, Official Report, (PQ 275906).
Local Government
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to her Department of regulating local authorities was in the last 12 month period for which information is available. [277307]
John Healey: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not regulate local authorities.
Local Government Finance
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements her Department plans to place on local authorities to report on their annual efficiency savings in each of the next three years. [277031]
Mr. Khan: Councils and authorities including Fire and Rescue services are required to submit information on efficiency savings to the Department twice in each financial year; the first being a forecast of planned savings and the second being the outturn of savings achieved. Councils report through National Indicator 179 and authorities providing Fire and Rescue services report through the Fire Annual Efficiency Statement. Additionally it is a requirement for efficiency information to be recorded on council tax statements.
Local Government Finance Act 1988
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what timetable she has set for the introduction of regulations under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to allow the deferral of payments for 2009-10 increases in business rate bills. [277017]
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) when she expects to bring forward legislative proposals for the implementation of the business rates deferral scheme; and if she will make a statement; [277467]
(2) in which payment month she expects the business rates deferral scheme announced on 31 March 2009 to become operational for business rate payers; and if she will make a statement. [277371]
John Healey: I expect the regulations implementing the business rate deferral scheme to come into force by the end of July.
Business ratepayers will be able to apply for deferral with local billing authorities from the point at which the regulations come into force.
Local Government: Consultants
Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to collect information on payments made by local authorities for consultancy services. [276768]
Mr. Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 30 June 2008, Official Report, column 630W.
Local Government: Standards
Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the cost to (a) local authorities and (b) central Government of reporting performance information to central Government in the last 12 months; and what the average cost to local authorities in England was in the same period. [277305]
John Healey: A new National Indicator Set was introduced on 1 April 2008 as part of the new Local Performance Framework, replacing all other sets of indicators. These are the only measures on which central Government will performance manage local government working alone or in partnership. A study to estimate the cost of the Local Performance Framework and how this compares with the previous arrangements, including for the collection of performance information, is being planned once the new framework is established.
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many individuals received financial help under the home owners mortgage support scheme in each month from September 2008 to May 2009; and if she will make a statement. [277273]
Margaret Beckett: The scheme opened with the first group of lenders on 21 April. Borrowers apply to the Homeowners Mortgage Support scheme through their lender. Before being admitted to the scheme, they need to take money advice. We have worked with the participating lenders to produce a proportionate reporting system. This will provide statistics which will be published on a regular basis.
Non-Domestic Rates
Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (1) what estimate her Department has made of the cost to (a) central Government and (b) local authorities of implementing the business rates deferral scheme; and if she will make a statement; [277464]
(2) what estimate her Department has made of the cost to (a) businesses and (b) local authorities of acquiring software for the administration of the business rates deferral scheme; and if she will make a statement; [277465]
(3) how much funding her Department has allocated to meet implementation costs for the business rates deferral scheme; and if she will make a statement. [277466]
John Healey: The business rates deferral scheme will be operated by local billing authorities as part of their collection of business rates. As set out in the Business Rates Information Letter of 11 May 2009, which is available on the internet at
and was provided to all billing authorities in England, any net additional costs to local government as a whole arising from the business rates deferral scheme will be fully funded under the new burdens principle.
The Government will be publishing an impact assessment alongside laying regulations in Parliament to implement the scheme. This assessment will consider possible costs to businesses and local authorities arising from changes to software systems or other administration.
Official Hospitality
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the guidance in her Department's staff handbook on the declaration of gifts, hospitality and financial interests. [273257]
Mr. Khan: Our staff handbook has been developed as an interactive publication delivered through the Department's intranet. It is not held in a format which allows it to be easily exported and therefore could be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
Young People
Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what mechanisms her Department used to select its national pool of youth advisers; and what criteria were used in the selection process. [277029]
Mr. Khan: The Secretary of State's panel of youth advisers were selected from a national pool of young advisers through an application process undertaken jointly with the Young Advisors charity. Applicants were also asked to provide personal statements as part of the application process.
Applications were assessed against a range of competences including communication, interaction, leadership and managing.
Innovation, Universities and Skills
Adult Education
Mr. Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer of 8 May 2009, Official Report, column 474W, on adult education, whether his Department has made any estimate of the number of new adult learning places to be created by implementation of the proposals in “The Learning Revolution” White Paper. [275411]
Mr. Simon: We are confident that the range of initiatives announced in “The Learning Revolution” White Paper will both increase the number of learning opportunities and help people access the many and varied kinds of learning that are already available. Adults want to learn in different ways—through structured classes and through libraries, museums, self-organised groups, membership organisations and online.
Our goal is that all adults are able to access a wide range of informal learning opportunities and that learning experiences are better joined-up so that people can pursue their interests. “The Learning Revolution” sets out proposals that will help achieve this goal, including increasing the availability of free and low cost spaces for learning, launching a £20 million Transformation Fund to reach out to new and different learners through partnership and innovation, setting up a support package for local learning champions and harnessing the potential of broadcasting and technology to support and enhance learning.
Adult Education: Finance
Mr. Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what criteria will be used by the Learning and Skills Council for the allocation of funding of adult education colleges to be announced on 3 June 2009. [277697]
Mr. Simon: In line with Sir Andrew Foster’s recommendations, the Learning and Skills Council has been consulting on the best approach to prioritise projects.
The first stage of prioritisation will be ‘readiness’. Projects which pass through the readiness gateway will then be assessed against the other following proposed prioritisation criteria:
Education and skills impact—this criterion assesses the extent to which the project addresses current and future education and skills need and supports industrial activism.
Contribution to local economic and regeneration priorities—this criterion considers the wider economic and regeneration impact of the project.
Co-dependency with third parties—this criterion looks at the practical implications of not proceeding with the project and the leverage ratios involved.
Condition of estate—this criterion evaluates the condition of the existing estate and the impact on learners and the extent to which they are addressed by the project.
Value for money—this criterion assesses the extent to which the project demonstrates that it has gone through a process to maximise value for money.
We expect to announce which projects will be taken forward during this spending review period in the summer.
Apprentices
Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which Government bodies are involved in the implementation of the apprenticeship programme for 16 to 18 year-olds; and what role each such body has in respect of that programme. [272682]
Sarah McCarthy-Fry: I have been asked to reply.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families has lead policy responsibility for apprenticeships for 16 to 18-year-olds in England, and works closely with the
Department for Innovation, University and Skills to ensure a coherent programme for young people and adults. A joint policy unit serves the needs of both Departments.
The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) has end to end responsibility for the delivery of the Apprenticeship programme, a role that will be confirmed in the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Bill currently before Parliament. NAS is currently housed within the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which is responsible for funding and contracting of post-16 provision. NAS works closely with the National Employer Service within the LSC to provide an integrated service to large employers delivering Train to Gain and Apprenticeships.
The Prime Minister and both the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Innovation, University and Skills are determined to see a continuing renaissance in the number and quality of apprenticeships, and we work closely with the National Apprenticeship Service to ensure a coherent programme for 16 to 18-year-olds in England.
Mr. Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many people commenced (a) level 2 and (b) level 3 apprenticeships in (i) North West Cambridgeshire, (ii) Cambridgeshire, (iii) the East of England and (iv) England in each year since the scheme was introduced. [275921]
Mr. Simon: The following table shows the number of people starting an apprenticeship in North-West Cambridgeshire parliamentary constituency, Cambridgeshire local authority, east of England region and England by level for 2003/04 onwards, the earliest year for which we have comparable data.
| Apprenticeship starts | |||||
| 2003/04 | 2004/05 | 2005/06 | 2006/07 | 2007/08 | |
| Notes: 1. Area is based on home postcode of learner. 2. Figures for parliamentary constituency have been rounded to the nearest 10. All other figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred. Figures may not sum to totals due to rounding. 3. A small number of Higher Level Apprenticeships are included in the Advanced Apprenticeship figures. 4. Figures for England include those learners with missing postcodes, and home postcodes outside of England. Source: WBL ILR | |||||
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